HICKORY, N.C. (AP) -- The stepmother of a 10-year-old disabled girl was indicted Monday on a charge she murdered the child, and officials released the latest gruesome detail in the case of little, freckle-faced Zahra Baker: Her head is missing.

Medical examiners said Zahra's death was caused by "undetermined homicidal violence." An autopsy was done even though authorities haven't recovered many bones, most notably the girl's skull, months after she was reported missing. Several bones showed cutting tool marks consistent with dismemberment.

The revelation came in documents released by the state's chief medical examiner shortly after officials in western North Carolina held a news conference about the second-degree murder charge. Authorities said Elisa Baker, who has been jailed since the weekend the girl was reported missing, desecrated Zahra's remains to cover up the slaying.

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Blagojevich lawyers want wiretap recordings banned

CHICAGO (AP) -- Attorneys for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked a federal judge on Monday to bar prosecutors from playing any FBI wiretap recordings to jurors at his upcoming retrial, arguing that the evidence at the very heart of the government's case is unreliable.

The motion argues that Judge James Zagel should throw out the hundreds of recordings of Blagojevich -- made in the days before his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest -- because many contain gaps where vital context needed to understand the taped conversations may be missing. The 54-year-old Blagojevich faces an April 20 retrial on 23 charges, including that he tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Quake rocks New Zealand; numerous deaths reported

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A powerful earthquake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help trapped people amid reports of multiple deaths.

Police said they were trying to confirm the early reports of multiple fatalities from the 6.3-magnitude quake, the second major temblor to strike the city since last September, while Prime Minister John Key told Parliament details still were too shaky to confirm deaths.

Witnesses said the quake destroyed the iconic stone Christchurch Cathedral, its spire toppled into a central city square, and there were reports of two buses crushed under falling buildings.

Live video footage showed parts of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center.

The airport was closed and Christchurch Hospital was evacuated. Power and telephone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water. Some cars apparently parked on the street were buried under rubble.

Some people were stuck in office towers and firefighters climbed ladders to pluck people trapped on roofs to safety.

New Zealand police said in a statement that there were reports of multiple fatalities in the city, including a report that two buses had been crushed by falling buildings.